VIRTEL – Teaching hospitality with a virtual hotel e-simulation

Abstract

This paper reports on the development of “Virtel,” a virtual hotel for hospitality teaching and learning through e-simulations, from a pedagogical perspective. Active learning, with a strong reflective element, and teacher guided discussion will be a valuable asset to our range of teaching methods. Virtel aims to help teachers provide a realistic hospitality setting, and provide challenges and scenarios that allow students to apply their theoretical learning to situations, develop their thinking skills and develop their workplace skills. Virtel is an active learning tool that could be used by different classes and lecturers to enhance learning and skills application, and help students to face realistic workplace scenarios, and learn how to prepare and respond to live situations in a non-threatening way.